


Missed Me

by EnigmaHarper



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: F/M, Nightmares, Not sure what to put here, Prescription Drugs, Stalking, Swearing, alternative real life, because i don't know how to write smut, romance with no smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 03:13:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 13,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11072889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnigmaHarper/pseuds/EnigmaHarper
Summary: Erin packs up everything for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join the Game Grumps. However, some people don't want her to leave.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Most everyone is based on real people. Names have been changed... for the most part.

There was no reason for him to be waltzing though my grocery store, but there he was – looking like a giant Q-Tip. I heard them first, while bagging some customer’s groceries, and I nearly broke my neck whipping my head over to see if I was right. They came in as a group. Three of them I knew as Dan, Arin and Brian. The other four I could only assume to be the members of TWRP as I’ve never seen them without their masks.

“Hey! Erin!” Elizabeth shouted at me, “you okay?”

I turned and noticed the pile-up in the bagging lane. “Sorry.”

I bagged the rest of the order quickly and quietly excused myself before running to the back area of customer service.

“Uh…” Kassidy eyed me as I rushed past her.

“Dan Avidan is in the store,” I paced around and shook out my trembling hands.

“Who?” she rushed to my side.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, woke it up, and showed her the lock screen, “him.”

“No shit.”

“Fuck me,” I muttered under my breath.

“What’s he doing here?”

“Shopping from the looks of it. How the hell do I know? They didn’t have any shows near here. If there was, I would’ve been at it.”

“You should go out there and be super friendly.”

“I am dying right now because we are occupying the same building and breathing the same air. That will not be happening.”

“Excuse me…” a voice came from the counter. I knew it was him.

I froze, wide-eyed. Kassidy peeked her head around and looked back to me with a shit-eating grin. “Yes, can I help you?”

“This is gonna be a weird question, but do you have anyone in the store that could help us shop? We are not from here and are on a limited time frame,” Dan brushed his hands through his thick mane of hair.

“Well…” she looked toward me again, “I can’t leave the counter, but I’m sure my manager could help you out. Right, Erin?”

I swore under my breath and stepped out. “Sure.”

“Great.”

I begrudgingly left the office, shooting daggers at Kassidy, and followed him to the group.

“Guys! I got a manager!”

“Hi…” I waved slightly.

“Erin?” Arin read my jacket, “Well, that’s not gonna get confusing.”

“You can call me Carver if it’s gonna be an issue.”

“Carver?”

“Nickname. Internet alias. Long story. Now what’s on your list?”

I took the list and scanned over it quickly. There were only a few they were not going to find, but for the most part it wasn’t going to be too bad. I set TWRP loose on produce while I took the other three through the aisles.

“Now we won’t have this exact brand, but I have been told to tell you that this knock off brand is just as good.”

That got a laugh. I was trying my hardest not to freak out on them. Like randomly bursting out into one of their songs, even though I have been listening to all of Starbomb on loop for days and that was all that was running through my head at the moment. Once down the juice aisle we passed by Tim who was facing like he always was.

“Hey, Erin, who sings this?”

I listened for a second and announced, “John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band” as the song was “Darkside” from Eddie and the Cruisers. I had a strange echo, though, as Dan had also answered at the exact same time. I froze again, and this time I think they could tell something was up.

“You okay?”

“Yeah…” I squeaked, “No… Not really… I’m trying really hard not to fangirl, and it’s taking all my will to do so.”

“Oh. So, you know us?”

“Yeah…” I crossed my arms to hide my shame. Arin put a reassuring arm around my shoulders. It didn’t work.

“Would it help to say that we are here to meet you?”

“What?” I gasped, “Why?”

Dan came around to my other side. I was now in a Grump sandwich. “As you surely know then, I love me some point and click adventure games, especially King’s Quest. After some YouTube searching, I found a little Let’s Player by the name of Carver that ran a little show called Point and Fail. She was sarcastic, if a little down on herself, but really funny and you could tell how much she loved the games she was playing. Then suddenly she stopped. Said she couldn’t continue with her currently schedule of jobs. Well, I couldn’t let that happen. So, we did some digging."

“I did the digging,” Brian piped in.

“Brian did the digging. We knew she was from Wisconsin and went by Artemis_Carver. It really wasn’t that hard to find you. Facebook told us you worked here so we made a stop. Lucky for us you were here.”  
I stared at them, my mouth agape.

“So… what do you think? Wanna become a Grump?”

“What would the job entail? Are there benefits? Where would I stay? When do you need me out there?”

“Playing point and clicks and being entertaining, attending the occasional convention, doing various things on camera for my amusement,” Arin smirked, “Yes, really good ones. We can help you find a place. As soon as possible. We do have an extra bunk on the tour bus if you’d care to join a bunch of smelly dudes. Otherwise, Suzy has been following us in a van. You can join her.”

I looked among the faces. This was a dream come true, but could I just up and leave?

“As much as I would just love to drop everything and leave with you right now, I have an apartment to clean out, stuff to pack, and jobs to quit.”

“We will make sure that everything is taken care of if you come with us right now. There is a lot to talk about before you get out there. Please join us for the rest of the tour.”

A trio of puppy dog eyes stared at me. It would certainly be worth the story. “Okay, but I’ll opt for the van ride with Suze. Just let me inconvenience everyone at work.”

I stared to leave, but stopped short, “First, can I get a picture?”

They laughed, “Sure.”

We squeezed together for a selfie and I ran off.

“So… how’d it go?” Kassidy coyly leaned on the counter.

“Kassidy, I need you to be me tonight... and for the foreseeable future."

“What?"

“I quit.” I spoke as I grabbed everything I needed, “I’ll just fill out this piece of paper, text Rica, and grab my things. I’m really sorry, but I’ve gotten a better job offer. Also, this place sucks and everyone knows it.”

“Erin…”

“Opportunity of a lifetime… I gotta take it.” I texted as I talked and filled out paperwork.

E: [photo sent] You’ll never guess what happened today. Talk more soon.

And in a flurry I was gone.

~~~

We were quite a way down the road when my sister finally messaged back.

L: Who is that?  
E: Collectively… Starbomb. In order… Arin, Dan, Me, Brian  
L: That explains nothing. I assume internet people?  
E: That is correct.  
L: Neat.  
E: They offered me a job. Playing games. Like I used to. But getting paid and actually having a budget.  
(Linnea is typing)  
E: I’m taking it. I’m leaving tonight and joining them as they get back to Cali.  
L: Are you shitting me right now?  
E: No. (0__0) <\--- That is my serious face.  
L: You are randomly moving to California to play video games for a living?  
E: Yes.  
L: Did you tell mom?  
E: She’s my next call.  
L: She’s gonna flip.  
E: I know.  
L: You’re leaving tonight?  
E: Yeah. They are gonna help me set up a place to live and then I’ll come back for all my stuff and a little going away party.  
L: I want to say don’t go, but you are gonna be so happy out there. And if it doesn’t work out, you will always be welcomed back. And we will still have the podcast.  
E: We will definitely get more of a following because of this. And I’ll probably get an editor for it.  
L: I don’t know if I want that.  
E: We can discuss it later.  
L: Right… call mom.  
E: Fine.  
E: Talk later.

I closed Messenger and opened the phone app. Mom is at the top of my list of favorite because she’s the only person I actually call. I stared at my phone and quietly asked, “What am I gonna tell her?"

“That you got an offer you couldn’t refuse,” Suzy smiled as she tried throwing an old-timey gangster voice. It was adorable and completely wrong. “Or that you are an adult and capable of making decisions for yourself.”

“You obviously do not know my mother.” I took a deep breath and pushed the number. “Here goes nothing… I’m putting it on speaker.”

“Erin! What’s up? What time is it? Did you not have to work late?”

“Hey, Mom…"

“What happened?” she sounded a little angry.

“I quit my job today.”

“What happened?” this time a little softer.

“I got a better offer.”

She was silent on the other end.

“Mom?”

“Where?”

“Los Angeles.”

“WHAT!!!!”

“Mom, please don’t yell.”

“When did you apply to a job out there? Why didn’t you tell me? Why LA?”

“Calm, please. Let me explain. You remember when I used to play games and post them to YouTube?"

“Yeah…”

“Well, apparently, I had a big-name fan who looked me up and offered me a job.”

“Was it the guys who swear a lot? The ones on your phone who sing those dirty songs?”

Suzy laughed.

“Actually, yes.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“We are on the road right now. Do you want me to have everyone pull over so you can talk to them? We could Skype or something.”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

“Okay… Gimmie a few minutes to get this set up and I’ll call you right back.”

I hung up and looked over to Suzy. She grabbed the walkie from the center console. “Guys, we need to make a pit stop.”

As soon as we stopped, I clamored over to the tour bus. “I’m sorry to do this, guys, but my mom would like to talk to you.”

“That’s adorable,” Danny rested his head on his fists.

“It’s really not,” I snarked, opening the video messaging app. “I’m in my 30s and she still treats me like a child."

It rang for a bit then Mom’s face appeared.

“Are you decent?”

“Do I not look decent?” She was in her pajamas.

“Not really. At least wrap up in a blanket, please.”

She obliged and I positioned myself between Arin and Dan. “Okay… this is Arin Hanson.” He did a little wave. “And this is Dan Avidan.”

“Hello, Mrs. Fields,” he waved as well.

“Holy shit! It’s the guy on your phone!”

“Mom!”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Mrs. Fields,” Arin smiled, “we swear all the fucking time.”

“I know. I’ve heard. I don’t like it.” There was an awkward pause. “Anyway, please call me Anne… or Mom. All of Erin’s friends end up calling me Mom."

“That is true.” I nodded.

“So, you are taking my baby girl to California?”

“Mom…” I shrank down.

“The one place I told her never to move to?”

“She thinks it’s gonna fall into the ocean.”

“It will someday.”

“Well, Anne, where we live is far away from the fault so we hardly ever experience quakes.”

“It’s not far enough. Will you be good to her?"

“Of course, Anne.”

“And find her a place to live.”

“Already have a place in mind.”

“And help her move all of her stuff out of my house?”

“Jesus, Mom…” I rolled my eyes.

“Yes, we will help her move.”

“Does this place allow cats? She’s got a bitch of one that needs to move with her.”

“Yep, we can move the cat.”

“Will you allow her to come home every once in a while?”

“Absolutely. And you are welcome to visit whenever you want. We can help with tickets.”

She went somber for a moment, “Can you promise me that nothing is going to happen to my little girl?” Her eyes started to well up. If she started crying, I would as well, and nobody wanted that.

“You have my word, Mrs. Fields,” Arin put on a tone of seriousness I had never heard before, “She’s in good hands.”

“And I’ll be back in like a week to get my stuff.”

“Okay. Call me every day.” She paused, wiping her eyes.

“I will.”

“Good night.”

The video ended and I put my phone away. “Thanks, guys. She’s a tad protective.”

“I think it’s sweet,” Dan draped an arm around me, “So… I’m on your phone?"

I turned as red as a boiled lobster and tried to duck out of his embrace, but he held fast. “Let’s see it."

“Fine…” I held out my phone and showed the screen. It was from a screenshot of Table Flip where they played poker and Dan had his scarf tied around his head. He looked like a contemplative pirate.

“Nice,” Arin playfully nudged me. “Any of me on there?”

“Uh… none saved, but I do have a board on Pinterest dedicated to the both of you. I try not to lust over married people. It just seems wrong.”

Dan grabbed the phone and tried to open it. “Damn, password locked.”

I reached out and pressed my thumb to the home key, “I prefer my fingerprint scanner.”

“Ooh… I’ve never seen this one.”

My wallpaper was also Dan, but this one was a cartoon rendition of him and the unicorn from The Last Unicorn. “I like using art as my wallpaper. It’s a little less stalkery than trying to find actual pictures.”

Dan rifled through my phone for a bit then handed it back.

“Trying to find my porn? It’s not on my phone.” I grabbed and checked to make sure he didn’t change the language. That’s what I do when I “borrow” other people’s phone.

“Anything interesting?” Arin raised an eyebrow.

“She likes Sherlock in the form of Benny Cucumber, Critical Role but mainly Liam, us, and lots of Marvel.”

“So she’s a nerd. I think we can work with that.”

“You needed my phone to figure that out? I thought you had Brian internet trace me? Have you seen my Tumblr?” I took a moment to think about what I just said, “Oh, god! Have you seen my Tumblr!?”

They both laughed. “Anyway, let’s get back on the road. We got a bit of a journey before the next stop.”

“I’ll go back to the van.” I scampered back to the Suzy-mobile.

“How’d it go?”

“Mom treats me like I’m 12, but she’s okay with my life choices. Dan went through my phone and decided I was a nerd. So, I guess I’m good.”

“Great!"


	2. Chapter 2

I flipped on the light outside my office to indicate RECORDING and began.

“Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of Point and Fail. Today we are continuing where I left off in Spire. Have I mentioned lately how much of a crush I had on Sirrus while playing these games?”

I had been an official Grump for a month and already my life was a million times better. I had creative license with what I wanted to do and it came with the perks of a built-in audience. Of course, not everyone was happy with me as an addition, but what were they going to do about it? The positive lovelies far outweigh the negative ones and I was welcomed into the boy’s club. Once I was working with them my “celeb crush” feelings faded. They were just all around cool people like anyone else.

As I was traversing the treacherous maze of Spire for like the fifteenth time, a flash of light caught my eye. I paused the game and called out, “Come in.”

“How’s recording?” Barry peeked his head in.

“Still in Spire. Wanna join me?”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude…”

“Get your butt over here!”

I unpaused the game and continued,” Well, lovelies, it seems we have a guest today. Say hi, Barry.”

“Hi, Barry.”

“So, do you have a Myst story? Everyone I know has a Myst story.”

“I’ve never actually played it.”

I hit the desk rather loudly “Shut the front door! I didn’t think that was possible.”

“Never really got into the puzzle games.”

“Well, then, let me introduce you to the greatest video game series of all time. And I do include King’s Quest on that list. It’s a close second. We are currently on the prison world of Spire. This world was made specifically for Sirrus, the elder son of Atrus and Catherine. You see in the world of Myst you have many themed worlds that are connected by linking books. After some great misdeed, Atrus locked his sons up in the specially designed prison worlds of Spire and Haven. In the meantime, Atrus and Catherine had a daughter, Yeesha, and began to teach her the secrets of world making. Of course, this caused the brothers to get jealous because it was their birthright and whatnot… and I realize I’m rambling and probably boring you and the listeners. And I’m almost at time for this episode. So, I’ll just unlock this area and we’ll see you next time. Bye!”

I paused the recording and the game. “Sorry for boring you.”

“I like listening to you talk,” he blushed.

“Good. It would be awkward if you, my editor, couldn’t stand the sound of my voice.”

“That’s not what I mean,” he fidgeted in his chair.

“Something up?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to go grab a coffee or something.”

“Yeah, sure…” As someone who hadn’t had a lot of people ask me out, this took a second to register. “wait…”

“Yeah…”

“Will this be two friends grabbing a coffee and chatting about work or two friends grabbing coffee and talking about mutual interests in a date-like fashion?”

“I was hoping for the latter.”

“Okay,” I beamed, “it’s a date. I’m gonna finish Spire. Care to join me?”

“Maybe next time. See you later,” he rushed out in a flash.

I started the game and recording again, “Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of Point and Fail. Today we are getting out of Spire. And I really meant that this time.”

A careful ear could pick up the sheer giddy enthusiasm oozing from my voice. Not only did I make it out of Spire, but I got half way through Haven by the time the episode was done.

~~~

Barry took me to the nearest non-Starbucks coffee house. It was a nice little place that had a very “coffee shop in a college town” vibe that I missed. Before I was forcibly relocated after the death of my dad, I enjoyed hanging out at The Acoustic Café in Winona. A home to great sandwiches and reasonably priced “over-priced coffee drinks.” I ordered a cold-brew coffee with caramel syrup and a chicken salad sandwich and totally expected to pay for it, but I was denied.

“I got it. You can find us a table.” He smiled at me and I melted a little.

I picked a little booth in a corner for privacy. One of the issues with living on the internet is that there are fans everywhere and this was only a first date. We weren’t trying to rush things… if there were even things to be rushed. I was expecting the food to be brought out and I especially wasn’t expecting the sudden vase of flowers that were brought out with it. It was super sweet.

“Aw…” I blushed.

“So, Carver, tell me about yourself.”

“Uh… what do you want to know? I’m pretty open about everything online.”

“Well, I don’t really know. I just wanted to make small talk. Tell me about young Carve.”

“I grew up on a farm.”

“Really?”

“Yep. I know I don’t have the air of a farmgirl. Trust me, that took a lot of work. But it’s still in me somewhere. Grew up on a farm. Did farm chores. Drove tractor when I was 12. Apparently, I almost died when I was 3 because I decided to climb the corn silo. Mom couldn’t find me and I wasn’t much of a talker. And, well, corn silos have this big hole in the top that I could’ve fallen into, gotten sucked into the corn, and suffocated.”

“Wow. How’d they find you?”

“You know, they never really told me that part. I think it was my Uncle Hank that found me. Well, we all called him Uncle Hank, but he was my great-great uncle. You know, I remember him, but really only in stories. And I’m rambling again.”

“I like your rambling. I think you are fascinating.”

“I assure you I am not.”

“You never think you are, but to other people you are the most interesting person in the world.”

“That’s good. You read that in a fortune cookie or something?”

“You always so defensive?”

I paused, he had struck a nerve. “Actually yes. I have found that people are usually nice to me because they want something. I’m not pretty and I though not anymore, I was fat my entire childhood. So, it’s changed my whole world view to a cynical and jaded one. So, I’m sorry if you’re turned off by my pessi…”

He shut me up with a kiss.

“Please, stop being so down on yourself.”

“I…” I stuttered.

“I understand you think you need to do this as a defense mechanism. I genuinely wanted to sit and get to know you.”

I hung my head. It had never occurred to me that someone might actually like me for me. Tears started welling in my eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“You okay?”

“No.” I wiped the tears away. 

“Here,” he jumped into the booth next to me and dried my eyes with a cloth hanky. I couldn’t help but laugh at him.

“What?”

“Who carries a handkerchief anymore?”

“You never know when you need one,” he smiled.

“You kissed me.”

“I did.”

“I wasn’t exactly prepared. You wanna try again?”

He smirked and we kissed.

“That was awesome,” I whispered.

“Thanks, I try.”

I playfully hit his shoulder, “This isn’t gonna get awkward, is it?”

“Only if we make it.”

“Though that does sound like fun, I’d prefer lowkey for now.”

“I can do lowkey.”

“So… what now?”

“We can go to a movie.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go see something we don’t have to watch,” I winked at him and he blushed.

“That’s a wonderful idea.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Girl in the Tower" is a cheese-tastic song.   
> I love it so much!

“Carver! I heard a terrible secret about you!” Dan bounded toward me with a giant goofy grin on his face.

“You did? And what might that be?”

“I heard… that you have a background in music.”

I looked at him dumbfounded, but relaxed a little. Thankfully this wasn’t going to be about my little budding office romance. “Yeah, if that’s what you want to call my degree. I went to school for voice but was told by my voice teacher that I didn’t have a voice for performance so I didn’t pursue that any further and spent the rest of my time getting a minor in musical theatre.”

“So… you sing.”

“Yes, Dan, I sing.” I said flatly.

“You have to sing with me… oh… wait… I have a brilliant idea,” he beamed at me.

“I really don’t want to sing ‘Girl in the Tower.’”

“How did you…?”

“I don’t know, Dan, maybe the eight million messages on my KQ6 video that say, ‘Carver, you and Dan need to sing this together.’ And the fact you and Arin have been talking about trying to get me to sing for weeks.”

“But… just think how awesome that would be.”

“I mean, it would, but the girl has like five lines. She doesn’t even get her own full verse.”

He pouted and batted his eyes at me, “Please, Erin.”

I held in a smile. I had to make it look like I wouldn’t do it, but those puppy dog eyes of his were too compelling. Also, he used my real name. He doesn’t usually call me Erin to avoid confusion.

“Fine. But can we also sing something else.”

“Of course. You choose and we’ll work on it.”

“Then I guess I’ll sing ‘Girl in the Tower’ with you.”

“YAY! I’m gonna go work on this musical track with Brian. This is gonna be awesome!”

~~~

The next day I found myself in a recording booth, but not the normal booth at the Grump space, but like a fully-fledged recording studio Dan had already booked time for. Thankfully I had said yes because otherwise they would’ve wasted a lot of money.

“This is very intimidating.”

“Relax, Carver, pretend you’re singing to just me,” Dan winked at me and smiled.

“Oh… that’s somehow worse.”

“Now we’re gonna run though the song a few times. First a flat run-through with both of us to get a base. Then I’ll go and record my half so when you go you will have me in your ear to sing with.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t worry. You are awesome and we’ll have fun. Ready?”

I nodded, but that was a lie. I had never recorded myself singing before on purpose. While playing games I tend to hum or sing along with the background music, but that’s purely circumstantial. This was a whole new level of weird. I didn’t even want to think of the crazy video I’d have to pretend to sing over looming in the future.

I followed him into the booth and stood at the second of the impressive mic setups. Then the intro vamp started and Dan instantly went into a zone. I followed along with the lyrics laid out before me. Thankfully they had provided actual sheet music that I could follow along with and sight read. He had sprung this on me rather quickly.

♪You seem so far away / And I just need to hear your voice / I just need to hear your say / If you would have me go or stay ♫

He sang out like it was the best song in the world. I mean, it’s an okay song, but super cheesy. But Dan could make any song sound good.

♪ Girl in the tower / I’m reaching out / Please tell me want to do ♫

As he sang he did a sort of choreography. I couldn’t help but smile, but I bit my finger to keep myself from laughing.

♪ Girl in the tower / I’m calling out / My heart cries out for you ♫

It was now time for my two solo lines. For a song about this girl, she didn’t have a lot to say. I took a deep breath and began.

♪ I saw your face / And I felt our souls embrace ♫

I saw his eyebrows raise as if he couldn’t believe this voice was coming from me. However, he couldn’t react much more that that because we had more to sing.

♪ If it’s not meant to be this way / Why do you haunt me night and day? / Girl in the tower / I’m reaching out / Please tell me what to do ♫

I hit the harmonies like they were nothing. We ran through the rest of the song with few flubs. There was a little syncopated rhythm that just wasn’t connecting correctly in my head. 

“Oh my god, Carver! That was awesome! Why do you never join us at karaoke?”

“You guys do karaoke? I didn’t know.”

“I will personally make sure you are at the next one.”

A voice came from the other side of the glass, “Dan, great as always. Carver… pretty good. You could be louder. And we’ll work on the timing.”

“Okay.” I said and nodded.

“Dan, let’s run just you for now.”

I removed the headset and left the room. Brian was peeking out the other door.

“You have to watch him work,” Brian gushed. He was completely different than how he acted on camera. And the chemistry between him and Dan was beautiful.

I watched as Dan and the person behind the mixing board talked back and forth trying to get the perfect sound for each phrase. Brian was right, Dan was fun to watch work. But the more I watched, the more my mind drifted. This whole experience was a twisted whirlwind. I seemed to be on a never-ending escalator going up and I was just waiting for the inevitable crash back to earth.

When Dan finished, he gave me a few pointers and ushered me into the booth. I just went with the flow and did what the guy told me to. Apparently it was good enough, because it didn’t take too long.

As soon as I was done with my “half,” Dan met me in the hall, picked me up, swung me around, and planted one on me. I will admit that I had dreamed of this exact moment many times, but something just seemed off. It was nice, don’t get me wrong, but it just didn’t spark the way it did with Barry. I gently pushed him away.

“Geez. Warn a girl next time.”

He set me down, “That was weird. Was that weird?”

“It was a bit, yes.”

“You know, I really thought that would be different…”

“I know exactly what you mean.”

“It was nice…”

“Yeah…”

“But kinda like…”

“… kissing a family member,” we finished the thought at the same time.

“You’re not my son from the future, are you?”

“I don’t believe so, Carver, but I appreciate the reference.”

“So… what now? We just release the song or…”

“The plan is to make a video, but we need to clear the rights first. In the meantime, as soon as the track is mixed we get to sit on it and wait. Yay!” He waved his hand apathetically.

“Great. So now I go back to the space and try to get the recordings done I was supposed to do today. Thanks for making me do this.”

“No problem. And you were fantastic.”

“Thanks, man. That means a lot.”

~~~

“Carver! Good news!” Dan once again bounded at me like a drunk gazelle.

“What is it?”

“We got space to make a video and the rights are clear to post it.”

“Seriously? Wow.”

“So, clear your schedule, we gotta go now.”

“Now!?”

“It was the only time available.”

“But…”

He grabbed my hand and whooshed me away, “no, buts, only movement.”

The next thing I knew I was in a make-up chair getting made into the prettiest of princesses.

“Okay, so this is the plot,” Arin talked over everything being done, “Dan, you are looking for your princess. Carver, you are a princess. Everyone is gonna think that you are singing about each other. But at the end, Dan climbs the tower, pushes past you, and goes to Ross, who is also a princess.”

“I was wondering why he was in a dress,” I chuckled.

“But don’t worry, Carver, you also find love with the Baricorn, after you are magically changed into a unicorn yourself.”

“How very reverse ‘The Last Unicorn.’”

“Oh my god, you know that movie?” Dan pounced on me all dressed up like a prince.

“It’s my all-time favorite movie. I used to make my siblings watch it all the time.”

“I think I love you,” Dan proclaimed grabbing my hands in his own. 

“Oh, man, you’re too late,” I dropped his grip, “I just met someone who’s hung like a horse,” I flung myself onto Barry, who was dressed in the unicorn pajamas. Everyone started laughing.

“Oh, ha ha ha,” Dan pouted, “Do you know how hard it is to find people that know that movie, yet alone like it?”

“Yes, I do. And we will totally have to watch it later. But now I’m a pretty, pretty princess and we have a video to shoot.”

The video process was crazy. We would go through a tiny section of the song, making sure to hit specific marks and do specific actions, then we would reset and do it again. We did each shot at least five times, sometimes more. When we were finally done, I was so tired. I laid on the floor in my pretty, pretty princess dress and refused to move.

“Come on Carver,” Barry tried pulling on my arm.

“Ugh…. Don’t wanna…”

“We have to celebrate the video shoot,” Arin grabbed my other arm.

“I can celebrate from down here.”

“Movie night at my and Bear’s house!” Dan announced from the dressing room.

I jumped up, “Movie night! I love movie night!”

“I knew that would get you.”

“Can I keep the dress?”

“Unfortunately, no. But if we ever need a princess again we know where to get it.”

I huffed, “Fine!” and went to change.

~~~

They ordered pizza and we marathoned the movies Dan and I grew up with. Everyone else knew some of them, but were a bit on the young side to really remember them. I know we were trying to keep things lowkey, but I couldn’t help snuggling on Barry the entire night. I think I dozed off once or twice, but he didn’t seem to mind. Every time I woke up there were less and less people until finally it was just me and Barry. Dan had gone off to his room earlier.

“I don’t think you should drive home tonight. You are more than welcome to sleep here.”

“Really? I didn’t think we were that far into this relationship,” I sleepy smiled at my attempt at a joke. It didn’t work.

“You can sleep out here if you want, but I promise you my bed is a lot more comfortable,” he kissed me lightly on the lips and stood up.

“Lead the way, B.” I held out my arms and he pulled me up. 

Once in his room, I immediately sat on the bed. He was right, it was more comfortable than the couch.

“Okay, I’m gonna free the girls and remove the jeans, but the rest of the clothing is staying on.”

“That’s fine. I just want you to be comfortable.”

I shed my bra and pulled it out from the bottom of my shirt. Then I placed it and my jeans is a small pile next to the bed.

“I will never understand how girls can do that so quickly.”

“Magic… and years of practice.”

I laid back and crawled under his covers. It had been a really long time since I shared a bed with someone. Normally my mind would be running through every possible way this could go wrong. But tonight, I was too tired to think.

“I’ve been told that I snore. I apologize in advance.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

I curled up around a pillow with my back to him and shut my eyes. I felt the bed shift as he crawled in. Almost immediately he curled around me and draped his arm over my waist. I smiled a bit and drifted off to sleep.

~~~

I woke in his embrace. I shimmied around to face him as elegantly as a could without waking him. I failed.

“Morning,” he sighed contently.

“Morning.”

“I have the day off today and the house to myself, so is there anything you’d like to do?”

“Well…” I bit my lip in thought, “I haven’t been to the zoo yet since I moved, so that would be nice. But first I think we should take advantage of the empty house.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” 

He kissed me deeply and ran his hands up my side. His touch sent electric tingles everywhere he made contact. It was almost enough to send me over the edge. I moaned and I could feel him smile against me.

“That good?”

“It’s been a really long time.”

“Then I’ll be gentle.”

~~~

After a quick stop at my place for a change of clothes, we were off to the zoo. No matter where I visit, I always try to see the city’s zoo. I’ve just always loved animals. As soon as we entered I made a b-line to the map to plan our trip.

“I have to see the elephants. They are kind of my thing.”

“No problem. I usually just wander around when I come here.”

“Well…” I took his hand and intertwined our fingers, “we can certainly just wander about. I just have to see the elephants.”

We visited as much as we could before hunger got the best of us and we found a food court. We decided that we’ve seen just about all we wanted to see, save one enclosure, and that it had been a pretty damn good day.

On the way out, we stopped at the elephants. I was able to shake a truck and feed the baby some hay. It was just the best thing ever!

As we were driving home he asked, “So… what is it about elephants?”

“You know, I don’t really know. I think I’ve just always felt a connection. The first movie I was ever gifted was Dumbo, so it probably came from that. I was quite the chunky child, so I could relate to the poor picked on elephant, yet he found a way to overcome his obstacles and become beloved.”

“I can’t picture you as a big kid.”

“I was quite large until recently,” I took out my phone and found an old picture of me and my dad. “When my father passed away, it shook the whole family. I got so fed up with my lifestyle that I changed my entire eating habits and forced myself to exercise every day.”

“I’m so sorry. He looks like a very nice man.”

“He was the biggest teddy bear, and I miss him every day.”

He squeezed my hand and we pulled into my driveway. “This has been an amazing day. I’m sorry for bringing up bad memories.”

“It’s alright. I’m sure he would’ve liked you.”

He smiled and gave me a quick peck, “we must do this again some time.”

“Definitely. How long before everyone notices?”

“I’ve been with these guys for quite some time, they’ll never know unless we tell them.”

I kissed him one last time before exiting the car. “I won’t if you won’t.”

“It’s a promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like elephants.


	4. Chapter 4

We had been dating for a month before I let it slip in front of everyone. I called him Babe instead of Bear, which wouldn’t have mattered except we both turned beet red and that’s what outed us. Of course, everyone pretty much knew already, except Dan. He was super oblivious sometimes. So, then it was decided that we announce it to the lovelies, because they were going to find out eventually and we wouldn’t want it to look like we were lying to them. We love our fans too much to lie to them about something as silly as an interoffice romance. So, for Valentine’s Day I announced I was going to have a guest as we played Machinarium. I was going to post a face cam to the footage, so it was going to be an extra special episode.

“I’ve already played this, but not recorded, so do you want to take control?”

“I guess I could, but it’s your channel.”

“It’ll be fine. Ready?”

“Let’s do this.” He carefully stepped out of the visible frame.

I clicked on the light and started recording.

“Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of Point and Fail. Today on this very special episode I am joined by a very special guest.”

He leaned in to frame, “I wouldn’t say I’m that special.”

“It’s Barry!”

He sat in the conspicuously empty chair next to me.

“Now why would Barry be here for this very special episode of Point and Fail? This special Valentine’s Day episode?” I elbowed him in the ribs.

“Because we are very much a couple and I hear this game is all about love and such.”

We started giggling like mad.

“This feels incredibly ridiculous.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Now, as Barry has said, we will be playing Machinarium. Well… Barry will be playing. I will be his guide.”

“Am I this cute little robot?”

“You are. Isn’t he adorbs!?”

“Totes.”

“Begin a new game and let’s drive in.”

The game started and we both awed over the two robots in love.

“You are Josef and that is Berta. They were made for each other, literally.”

“I have the feeling something bad is going to happen.”

No sooner than he said that the evil Black Hats took Berta captive and dumped Josef in the trash pile.

“They just stole my girl!”

“They did.”

“They shall pay.”

We went through the game with few hiccups. His reactions to all the cute little bits were precious. I only had to help a couple of times with the puzzles. For someone who never got into Point and Click, he was rather adept.

“And we just fly away?”

“Yep. You got your girl back. You beat the bad guys. You saved the big brain dude. All is right in the world.” I leaned my head on his shoulder.

“Yay!” He reached around and gave me a big hug which morphed into a big kiss. We kinda lost ourselves in each other for a moment before I realized the face cam was on. 

I pulled away and laughed, “And if you didn’t believe us before, I hope that is enough proof. We’ll be seeing you next time. Bye!”

I stopped the recording and sat back laughing.

“Oops…” he smiled and started to giggle.

“Good thing we didn’t live stream. That could’ve been awkward.”

“Oh, man. Can’t you just imagine the chat exploding? Why didn’t we do that instead?”

I shook my head, “you’re silly. I love that. Well… we got about 2 hours of gameplay to edit. Shall we get started?”

“You wanna watch me edit? It’ll be boring.”

“You’re forgetting… I used to do this myself. I know how boring it will be. But I could make it interesting.”

“Really?” he cocked an eyebrow.

“Not like that! We are in public. And recording lights only stop so much.” I heard a small creak in the hall. “Just watch.”

I leaned in to kiss him and flipped off the outer light. Almost instantly the door burst open.

“What are you crazy kids doing?” Arin burst in like a goof. Barry jumped out of his chair as I just laughed at it all.

“Told ya.”

“Arin, dude, knock!”

“You guys done recording?” he was undeterred, “we are all going out for lunch and wanted to see if you wanted to join us.”

“Sure, Arin,” I finally got my giggles under control. “We just gotta finish the main export so we can begin editing.”

“Okay. Sounds great. Meet you out front.”

Arin left as quickly as he came. As soon as the door shut the giggles started up again.

“Jesus!”

“Oh, Bear, your face was priceless.”

“How…?”

“I have great ears. Not even a ninja could sneak up on me, and Brian has tried.” I clicked a few buttons and dragged the files to the editing folders. “Ready?”

“Let’s go.”


	5. Chapter 5

Overall the response was good. A couple broken hearts, but quite a few lovelies stated that “already knew” or “could tell from the way we acted together.” All things considered I was happy to be accepted. However, there was one very vocal troll that booed the whole thing. I didn’t think too much of him until he emailed me directly.

Cross_Chef: Hey, slut. I see you’ve moved up in the world. Pity, you decided to have a life on the internet. You forget how much of a hacker I am? Hope you enjoy looking over your shoulder. You never know when I’ll be there. I told you this was what you had to look forward to if you ever dumped me.

I immediately took it to Barry.

“Any ideas who it could be?”

“My ex.”

“That narrows it down.”

“To one. I’ve only had the one.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. And I vividly remember when he told me that,” I pointed to the last line of the threat. “It was his birthday and he was in the middle of a WoW bender…”

Barry nodded knowingly, my extreme hatred of World of Warcraft finally making sense to him. “I woke up and saw him on the computer. He had been there the entire night. I asked what he was doing and he explained to me that he hacked his ex-girlfriend’s account and sold all her stuff and all her new boyfriend’s stuff and then changed all the passwords so they couldn’t get back into the accounts. He ended this explanation by say those exact words to me.” I was in tears. “When I finally did leave him, I brought a friend to make sure I got all my stuff. He pleaded with me to not leave, but I had to. I spent the next few days in a crazy spiral of paranoia, changing all my passwords. I’ve never been so scared… until now. I don’t have anything incrimination, but who knows what he could fabricate. He could find where I live. Fuck!”

“Woah… slow down, babe,” he brought me into a hug. “Let’s bring this to Arin. He’ll know what best to do. If need be, we can bring it to the police. Okay?”

I sniffled and nodded into his shoulder. “Okay.”

Arin was completely understanding. He recommended that we do go to the police because this threat was extremely personal. He did, however, insist that we ignore any further correspondence from Mr. Cross_Chef and to not “feed the trolls.” Easier said than done.

~~~

Weeks went by with nothing, just a slow crawling feeling of paranoia. What could he do to me? He was back in Wisconsin, right? Sure, he had his computer and access to the internet, so technically he would reach me wherever I was. But he hadn’t even made a peep since his first message. Nothing on any of the videos. Nothing on social media. Just nothing.

He did make several appearances in my dream, however. I would be woken by Barry because I was thrashing or screaming or both. One night I dreamt he had found me and tried suffocating me in my sleep.

“Erin! Wake up!” Barry shook me hard.

I woke gasped for air.

“You stopped breathing. You okay?”

“Fuck!” I sat up, tired.

“Another nightmare?”

“Yeah. He had gotten in here somehow and smashed my face into the bed.”

“That’s it! I am sick of this. You can’t live like this.” He stomped out of the room.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m gonna find this asshole and make sure he never hurts you.”

I followed him to the office where he hopped on the computer.

“Barry, stop. Don’t… whatever you’re planning, just don’t.”

“This douche is ruining your life right now. He’s gotta pay.”

“And what will you do? Beat him up? Get thrown in jail for assault? He’s not worth it. It’s my stupid head overworking my anxiety. I can fix this. Please, just come back to bed.”

“Alright.” He relented begrudgingly. 

~~~

The next morning, I decided to take a mental health day and go visit my doctor. I hadn’t felt like I needed my anxiety medication since the move, but now a second opinion was in order. I had the next available appointment with my doc. She was super nice and listened to the whole issue. And after everything, she gave me a brand-new prescription for Fluoxetine. When I got home I took one and laid down. I must’ve fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew Barry was home and making dinner.

“I take it your mental health day was a success?”

“I’m back on Prozac, if that’s what you call a success. I’ve been warned that it will take a couple weeks to get it back into my system and working properly. In the meantime, I’m going to be super lethargic and unmotivated,” I hugged him from behind, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For all of this.”

“You don’t have to apologize for anything.”

I just held him for the longest time. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

“Just lucky, I guess.”


	6. Chapter 6

The next few weeks were draining mentally, but I was able to finally get a full night’s sleep. Then things started getting better. I had more energy. I was better creatively. It was all really great. And there was still no word from Cross_Chef. We were getting ready for a telethon fundraiser. It was going to be huge. Everyone was setting up prizes and call-ins and guests. It was really getting crazy.

“So, Carver, what do you have for your shift?”

“I’ve got quite a few crafty people sending in things for auction. A few are already here. Did you see the cross-stitch? So much detail! As for call-ins, I’ve contacted a lot of people. Schaffer is a go. Neumann as well, barring any unforeseen medical drama. But most important, Ken and Roberta are in!”

“Say what?” Dan jumped in the air.

“Don’t worry, Dan, you can be in the room when they call.”

“Sweet.”

“So far, I only have one live guest confirmed.” I paused for dramatic effect. “Rand and Robyn Miller are going to be here! During my shift! Watching me play OG Myst! Oh, my god, you guys!”

“Holy shit, Carver, how did you pull that off?”

“I called their people and they said yes. Fans of the show.”

“Awesome! Ross…?” the meeting continued on with everyone reporting in. It was going to be amazing. October couldn’t come soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is really just so the epilogue makes sense.


	7. Chapter 7

“Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of Point and Fail! Today we are starting something new. A new point and click game, Carver, are you mad!? Most but that has nothing to do with anything. This game was gifted to me by a lovely. So, Noah Drake, thank you so very much.

“I know nothing about this game. I tried looking something up, but it is apparently very under the radar. So, that’s exciting. I get to name myself… hmm… C-A-R-V-E-R. Ooh! Basic character creation. In a point and click? Nice. I think this one looks like me… wait… these all look like me. Or what I looked like in pictures… well… okay… this is the most current me, so I’ll choose her.”

CARVER woke from her sleep with a start. A dialogue box came from the dark.

“Okay… random dialogue… silly voice time… ’What is it, CARVER? Bad dream?’”

CARVER stood up, “I’m just gonna get some water.”

“Hurry back.”

I clicked around the screen. Boxes would come up that that I can’t see anything in the dark. I clicked the edge of the bed. “Our bed… okay…” I clicked the arrow out. The screen transitioned into the kitchen. It was pretty much exactly laid out like my house. 

“This is weird,” I commented as I clicked around a bit. The cabinet had all my dishes in their correct places. I clicked on the odd clear mug. “Your favorite mug.” This was true. My clear mug was my go to beverage receptacle. The mug moved into my inventory. I clicked the sink. “No one drinks city water.” 

“Okay… let’s try the fridge.” I clicked the fridge. Inside was my Britta water tank, a small jug of milk, a loaf of bread, and more than enough tortillas. The usual staples of my refrigerator. I tried making an offhand joke, but my voice quavered and betrayed me. This was all too weird. I clicked the water pitcher with the mug and received a full mug of water. I clicked that to myself and CARVER drank it, putting the empty cup back into her inventory. Then I clicked back to the bedroom which transitioned to a cut scene. While CARVER and unknown bedmate slept, an intruder in black snuck in and, after incapacitating the bed person, kidnapped the player character. The next scene opened on CARVER tied to a chair in a dank looking basement. I couldn’t play anymore.

“Fuck this!” I stood and ran from the room.

Barry met me in the hall, “That good, huh?” He smiled, but my face told him that it was not a joking matter. I went over to the couch in the meeting area and flopped.

“Some fan sent me a weird game.”

“We get those all the time.”

“Homemade and straight out of one of my nightmares.”

“Who sent it?”

“Noah Drake.”

Dan, who was absentmindedly playing on his laptop, perked up, “Rick Springfield? I didn’t know he was a fan.”

I stared at him, aghast.

“What did I say?”

“That son of a bitch!”

“Rick Springfield?

“No, Dan. Jesse. My crazy ex, who now apparently dabbles in game design.”

“Wait… what?” Barry stared at me.

“Jesse’s Girl…” I started, but the realization of what I just played hit me, “He’s been in the house!”

“What?”

“Come here,” I drug Barry along to my office with Dan following along as well. However, I stopped short when I got to the screen. I had left the game running, which was apparently on a timer and CARVER’s time had run out. It was a scene straight out of a Saw movie and I immediately ran to the waste basket and threw up. “Stop the recording and go back to the beginning,” I heaved. Once the offending vision was off screen, I was able to go back and show them what I meant.

“That is straight up you.”

“They were all me. It was weird. But I have a lot of pictures online he could’ve referenced. But this. This is our house!”

“It’s uncanny.”

“I’ve never filmed anything there, have you?”

“No.”

“And it has all of our dishes in the right spots. He’s been in the house.”

“I’m gonna go get Arin,” Dan ran off.

“Okay.”

“What happens next?”

I continued the video and showed him the cut scene.

“What is he doing… oh… OH!... Did he just kill me?”

“Assuming you are the unseen person in my bed, yeah.”

“Alright, what’s going on?” Arin had a look of concern on his face that I had never seen on him before.

“I think I have a stalker and he’s been in our house.”

“Really?” he face went dark.

“What?” I looked at him quizzically, “Are you hiding something?”

He was uncharacteristically quiet.

“What is it, Arin?”

“Come with me.”

We all followed him to a small closet. When he opened the door, it was filled with unopened mail. Each corner was address to a different grump. My pile was huge and mostly written in the same handwriting. I thumbed through the envelopes. The newest ones were addressed to “Bitch” and “Whore.”

“Christ!”

“I go through all the mail that is sent to us. Anything threatening gets dealt with. The first one for you came shortly after you started. That’s normal, people don’t like change. However, it is the only one I opened. There was just something about it that seemed off.” He handed me a small blue card envelope post marked La Crosse. The writing was a ruddy brown color. The letter inside was quite lengthy. He wrote about how he was sorry about everything, about how much he missed me, and about his current situation. But, as Arin had said, there was just something off about the whole thing. The ink was the same ruddy brown as the outside and a lot of words were scribbled out like he wanted to say something different but couldn’t.

“Why didn’t you give this to me?”

“We’ve had notes like that before. In that type of ink, so I sent it to get tested. It’s blood… probably his.”

“What?”

“We’ve had blood letters before?” Dan’s jaw slacked open.

“Now’s not the time, Dan,” Arin went into the pile, “at first there were a couple every other week. Then every week. But since Valentine’s Day you’ve been getting at least one a day, all of them threatening, all of the post marked La Crosse.”

“Wait…” I checked the stamps, “all of them?”

“Yes. So, unless he’s been sending them home to get remailed, he is still in Wisconsin. Here is the most recent one from yesterday.”

Scrawled across the envelope in the same ruddy ink was written in bold letters CARVER. The sudden civility was strange. The envelope seemed a bit heavy for just one stamp.

“Do we have a postage scale?”

“Excuse me?”

I enunciated very slowly, “Do we have a scale for mail?”

“Unfortunately, no. Why?”

“At the grocery store I used to do mailings for customers. Anything over an ounce requires extra postage. There’s something else in here, yet only one stamp? It would’ve never gone through.”

I carefully opened the envelope and pulled out its contents. There was a letter, a CD, and several Polaroids. The pictures were of our house, both outside and in, and of me and Barry in candid moments when we thought no one was looking. Some were of us sleeping, more me than him, and all a lot more zoomed in that we were comfortable with. The CD was labelled PLAY ME.

“What the fuck!” Barry grabbed the pictures from my hands.

“’Dearest Erin, or I guess I should call you Carver as that is what you are going by. You are just as pretty as the first time I laid eyes on you. I wish I could talk to you, but it seems you are not getting my mail. I know they are not getting lost as I put them in your PO Box myself. So it seems that your employer is tampering with the mail and that’s a federal offense. But dear, I shall change the subject, as I could go on forever about the misdeeds of the people you work with. Instead I need you to know that you are not safe. It seems that there is a drastic flaw in the security system you’ve installed at your house. You see I was able to enter without nary a chirp on the radar, as you can see from the enclosed photos. I think you should complain to someone, but wait a few days. Your birthday is coming up and I have a surprise in store. Sincerely yours, Jesse. P.S. The CD is a copy of the game I made. You should’ve received a digital copy, but just in case, here is a hard copy. It has 16 different endings, but only one where you survive. Oops… spoilers. I would make sure you know all of them. It just might come in handy someday.’”

“That is twisted.”

“What does he mean?” Barry took the letter from me, “’It just might come in handy someday.’”

“It sounds like he plans on kidnapping me.”

“We have to go to the police, right? This is straight up police territory.”

“What are they going to do? Send a squad car? He’s already been in the house. He’s probably there now.” I started to pace. “He’s fucking with me for no reason. This can’t just be because I broke up with him. That was years ago!”

“Carver, what do you want to do?”

“As much as I hate it, I guess I need to play his game. Just in case.”

“I’m still gonna call the cops,” Barry went for the door, “it’s my house too.”

He left slamming the door. I could understand why he was so mad, but I just couldn’t think about anything else but self-preservation. I restarted the game and the recording session. I figured if anything happened, at least there would be something to go on.

“Will one of you stay with me until Bear gets back?”

“I’ll stay,” Suzy offered, “you two need to do some recording.”

“Because we can be funny in a time like this,” Dan huffed out the door.

~~~

Barry returned after a while to sit with me. He was unusually quiet as I played. The puzzles were quite simple. After waking in the chair, CARVER was able to rock back and forth with enough force to break the chair. After that came a trial and error maze. Left. Left. Right. Left. Center. Right. Center. Left. Right. Left. Left. It took eight tries to get it correct and each fail was more gruesome than the last.

“I… I can’t…” he finally spoke. “Erin, honey, I can’t do this anymore. He’s threatened my life… and you’re playing his game! Literally. I love you, but I just can’t do this anymore.”  
I watched him leave the room through tears. As much as I wanted to follow him and talk it out, I knew anything I said would not help the situation. He had a right to be angry and he had a point. My past mistakes were causing him pain and I didn’t want that to continue.

I tried to compose myself and continue the game, but that wasn’t going to happen. I found myself searching my email for the original offending message. What was the chance that Jesse would still be using it? What other choice did I have?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sudden change of voice. Not really sure how else to write this chapter.

Arin and Suzy arrived at the space first, like always, and noticed a very tiny quiet beeping coming from one of the side offices. After some quick investigative skills, they found that it was a notification for when a recording had been going on over night and the system storage was nearing capacity. The offending computer was Carver’s and it was still on.

“She’s had a hard time lately,” Suzy immediately went into apologist mode even though she didn’t have to.

Arin shut everything down and let the computer rest. Carver was usually the next to arrive and he could talk about not doing this in the future then. But Carver never showed. One by one, all the grumps showed up for a fun-filled day of games and animation and editing. But Carver never came. At the all-hands meeting, people finally started to panic.

“Bear, did she…?”

“I wouldn’t know. We had a fight.” He was very quiet in his chair. “I stayed at Dan’s.”

“He did,” Dan acknowledged.

“I’ve tried calling and she’s not answering,” Arin stood at the head of the meeting table with phone in hand. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but all I can think of is bad.”

“Maybe we should check the recording?” Suzy chimed in, noticeably scared.

“Recording?”

“She left her computer on and recording when she left last night.”

Barry jumped and ran to her office. The rest of the table followed. He opened the recording and started frantically scrubbing through the footage. He stopped shortly after the game play stopped then scrubbed backwards a few seconds to see how long she continued to play.

“… I love you but I can’t do this anymore.” Footsteps and a door slam then the game turned off and the sound of quiet sobbing was heard. Barry sat with his hand over his mouth. He watched as the cursor opened the email and searched for a specific address. The email that started everything opened. He hadn’t personally read it, but it wasn’t very nice. Why had Carver kept all this to herself? Then he remembered many conversations they had where he basically said to just ignore the trolls because the internet is evil.

She opened up a reply and began typing.

“Jesse, I don’t know if you are still using this email, but I bet you just have my computer bugged somehow so it doesn’t matter. You win! Congrats! I will be home alone tonight if you want to come claim your prize. I won’t fight you. I’m done fighting. Erin”

She hit send and sighed heavily, “I’m sorry, Barry. You do deserve better than me. I hope you can find her somewhere.” She closed down everything except the recording. “Don’t look for me. Please.”

There was nothing else on the footage. It was clear she left the recording running on purpose, but her words were contradictory to her actions. If she didn’t want them to look then why leave it on? Then again she probably knew he would try to find her no matter what and left this as a type of suicide note. Whatever her reasons, it didn’t work because he was out the door as soon as it was done.

“Arin, send cops to her place. I have to go.”


	9. Chapter 9

I drove home in tears. Unsure what was going to happen next, I feared the worst. I just hoped Bear and everyone else wouldn’t do something stupid. Just bring everything to the police and they will find me… whatever happens.

He was there as soon as I got home. 

“Erin. Lovely to see you again. It’s been a long time.”

“Yes, it has. Last I heard from you was through Facebook. Something how you were talking with your therapist and decided you were a woman now. I think you were hacked, man. Before then you were on the arm of some really nice girl at my theater. You probably didn’t see me because you gave me a panic attack and I hid in my manager’s office until you were gone. And yet after all those years, you’ve stalked me to California and ‘staked claim.’ Fuck, Jesse, what do you want?”

“I want you, Erin. It was the biggest mistake of my life to let you walk out of my life. I love you.”

“I don’t love you. I never did. I liked being in a relationship. I liked sleeping next to someone. I liked the companionship. But I didn’t like the person you became.”

“I’m not like that anymore…”

“It’s too late to try that. This conversation should’ve happened when I was still in Wisconsin. You only wanted me again now that I’m an almost famous YouTube personality.”

“True. Part of me wants to live off your fame. But part of me really misses you. I kept trying to talk to you at the theater, but couldn’t get the nerve. Then you stopped coming to work. You left the area. And I had no idea why.”

“My dad died and I had to move back home.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I don’t want your pity. I don’t owe you anything. I’m just sick of feeling terrified. You can do whatever you want with me. Take it. I don’t care anymore. This empty bottle should be proof of that.”

I chucked my prescription bottle at him. I had just gotten the refill yesterday and this was my safety net. If he wanted to kill me, he was too late. If he wanted something else, he’d have to take me to the hospital and essentially turn himself in.

“What did you do?”

“The game was a nice touch, but you obviously don’t watch my show. I cheat… I lot… Table’s turned… what are you going to do?” 

The room began to dim. I fell to my knees. I started to laugh as I watch him try to catch me before the world went completely dark.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another change in voice.
> 
> It's hard to write a first-person narrative when your main character is in a coma.

Barry went to the house, but nothing was there. No signs of a struggle. Nothing out of place. And most importantly, no Carver. A squad car pulled up as he was leaving and he stopped to try to explain as best he could what was going on. The cop seemed very sympathetic, but explained without anything more there wasn’t anything they could do.

“Try the hospitals. People come in all the time with no ID and no contact information.”

“Thanks.”

“If you can’t find her in two days, call us again. It’s officially a missing person case then.”

Barry shook his head. Two days? It had already been at least 12 hours and there was nothing to go on. In two days she’d be long gone. He drove to the closest hospital to see if maybe she was there.

“Hello, yes, excuse me,” Barry went straight to the busy nurses’ station.

“Sir? Are you injured?”

“No. I am looking for my girlfriend. I think something may have happened to her.”

“Name?”

“Carver… sorry… Erin. Erin Fields.”

“Date of birth?”

“June 6, 1982.”

“I’m not seeing anyone by that name. Do you have a recent photograph?”

He brought out his phone and pull up his wallpaper. It was a candid moment when she didn’t know he was taking a picture, but he thought she was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen in that moment. “Here. Have you seen her?”

The nurse took the phone and conferred with the nurse next to her. After a moment she returned his phone.

“Someone making that appearance was brought in last night. She didn’t have identification.”

“Where is she?”

“Follow me.”

The nurse led him down the corridor of rooms.

“She was left outside with an empty bottle in her pocket. Label was destroyed save for what it was. Without knowing how long it was in her system we had no idea how to proceed. We pumped her stomach, but that hasn’t helped anything. She’s non-responsive, but breathing on her own.”

They entered a room at the end of the hall.

“Now that we have ID, we can check some records.” 

Barry went straight to her side, “Honey, what did you do?” He stroked her hair.

“Someone will be in shortly to ask some questions.”

He took out his phone and shot Arin a text.

B: She’s at Mercy. Unconscious. Alive. I don’t know anything else.

As soon as he sent it off, a social worker entered the room. She was smartly dress and had her long blonde hair pulled back into a bun.

“Good afternoon. I’m Dr. Walker. I have been told you know the patient. Can I get your name?”

“Barry Kramer. She’s my girlfriend.”

“Okay. Do you know if she has any history of mental disorder?”

“I know she takes something for anxiety. Flu-something. She just started taking it again recently.”

“Really?” She made a few notes. “What brought this change?”

“We were being harassed.” He didn’t know how much he should tell this lady. Carver would be able to fill them in when she woke up. He glanced over at the different monitors hooked up to her. The one at the top started looking like an earthquake was happening. “Hey, Doc, is that normal?”

No sooner than he said something, Carver started to seize.

The doctor slammed the nurse call button and dragged Barry to the hall. “They’re gonna need the room. You might want to wait in the waiting area. We can finish the questions later.”

She escorted him away as nurses ran past them. The crew just happened to come in just as he got out there.

“What happened?”

Barry collapsed into a chair. “I don’t know. I think she was having a seizure.”

“Bear…” Dan wrapped him up in a hug.

“They said she overdosed on her meds and was dropped off outside.”

“She changed the game,” Arin sat next to them, “Smart… stupid, but smart.”

“Game, sir?” The social worker was still in earshot.

“We are internet personalities. So is Carver. She had been getting harassing letters and messages for awhile now and one quote/unquote fan had sent her a game. In it she was supposed to save herself from kidnapping. I’m assuming she OD’d to force his hand. It’s what I would do.”

The social worker wrote some more notes down. “Thank you very much. I’ll add this to the report. Someone will be out as soon as they have her stabilized to explain everything. And an officer will be here soon for an official statement.”

No one said anything, but Arin nodded in acknowledgment.


	11. Chapter 11

I woke in the hospital. It was dark outside and only a dim lamp was on next to the bed. I looked around, but could not see. Someone had removed my glasses. I tried clearing my throat but I stopped when I closed my mouth around a plastic tube. I had been intubated? How long was I asleep? I felt around for a button, but had no idea which one would call someone and which one would move the bed around.

“Carver?”

I looked over to the light. A shadow moved closer to me and I could barely make out Barry’s face. I tried to smile, but it was hard to do anything around the tube. I reached for him, and he took my hand. I squeezes it as hard as I could and tears started to flood my eyes. I reached up to wipe them away.

“I’m gonna go get a nurse,” he pressed a glowing red button and went to the door.

“Yes, Mr. Kramer?”

“She’s awake.”

He led the nurse in and returned to my side.

“Good morning, Miss Fields. You gave us quite the scare yesterday. How are you feeling?”

I moved my hand in the universal ‘meh’ motion and she laughed. I spelled out G-L-A-S-S-E-S in the very basic sign that I knew. She brought over my familiar plastic black frames and I put them on signing ‘thanks.’

“I didn’t know you signed.”

I pinched my thumb and forefinger together to say ‘a little.’

“Miss Fields, I’m going to remove the tube. It might be uncomfortable and your voice will be weak and raw. But you seem to be breathing on your own so you don’t need it. Okay?’

I signed ‘ok’ and grabbed Barry’s hand. The nurse pulled out the tube with one swift movement. It felt like I was going to throw up, but I didn’t.

“Thanks,” I rasped.

“I’m going to leave you two alone. It’s 3am. The next nurse will be in at 6. Doctor’s coming by around 8. Try to refrain from too much talking. Drink water. Rest.” She left and closed the door behind her.

I looked to Barry, “I’m sorry.”

“I am too.”

“I didn’t know what else to do.”

“I know. But what if he didn’t bring you in?”

“Then he would be a murderer and I knew he would never actually resort to that.”

“They found him. He’s in jail.”

“Good.”

“You almost died.” He stared out the window at the city skyline. “You had a seizure and your heart stopped. I almost lost you twice in one day. You have to promise me that you don’t have any more crazy exes in your life. I don’t think I can do this again. And I never want to lose you again. I love you too much.”

I was sobbing by the time he turned back to me. “I love you too, Bear. I’m so very sorry I put you through this.”

He kissed my forehead and sat down. “Do you need anything?”

“Just you.”


	12. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a sucker for a happy ending.

“Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of Point and Fail. As you can see we are playing Myst classic and we are live!” I beamed at the camera. After months of planning, the charity stream was upon us. We had already raised an obscene amount of money and it was only the third day. “Now let me introduce my guest for the next however long it takes me to finish this game. You all know Barry. He’s gonna be fielding questions and challenges.”

“I have a few really good ones lines up,” he snarked.

“And on the couch are my extra super awesome special guests, Rand and Robyn Miller. Oh my god, guys, I am so excited you are here.”

“We love the show and we’re happy to be here.”

“You watch my show? Now I’m embarrassed.”

“Oh, don’t be,” Robyn chimed in, “you would not believe the amount of fan mail I’ve gotten from people stating Sirrus was their first crush. It’s humbling.”

“Well… maybe not my first, but definitely my first biggest. I wrote fan fiction. Just try to find it, lovelies, I wrote a lot of different ones for different fandoms on different websites. And I didn’t always use the same name. Happy hunting.”

I started the game and played through most of the levels all the while getting delightful commentary from the Millers. They were especially impressed by my quickness I got the piano not puzzle and were equally as impressed at my extended not holding abilities.

“This puzzle was always an exercise in breath control for me. Cause I had to get the note, hold it, walk to the front of the ship, and match it.”

“We never meant it to be a hard puzzle. We come from a musical family. We just thought it was something people knew.”

“We got the most letters about it. Deaf players who thought we were being ablists. Honestly, we never meant it like that.”

“Carver, we need you to pause the game,” Barry interrupted with a smile. “This challenge is just too good to pass up. Talking about music… a rather talented lovely has rewritten ‘Alone’ to be sung by a woman named Tsavan about Sirrus.”

My face dropped, “Shit! That was fast.”

“Did you name a character Immortal?”

“Yes, Rand, I did. And if I remember correctly there’s a whole subplot with Saadevro from Myst 3, because Brad Dourif is amazing.”

“Yeah, no, he’s mentioned in the song.”

“Would one of you mind playing while I prepare this?”

The song was extremely well-written and fit the source song perfectly.

“Damn, GrumplerFish, that was amazing!” I panted as I sat back down and took over control. “Also thanks for the weird nostalgia of something I’ve written. And the even weirder creepiness of singing that to the source of my teenage lust.”

When I finished the game, the Millers said they had a surprise for me.

“We promise this one works,” Rand handed me a copy of Riven. “We had Barry pre-install it and play a few minutes to make sure.”

“Oh my god! That’s amazing! Now I can finally play it. It’s the only one I haven’t. And yet lauded as the best in the series.”

I hugged them and thanked them so much. As they left they passed Dan who was joining me for the Williams call in a few hours.

“Afternoon, Carver, ready for some King’s Quest?” Dan smiled slyly. He was up to something.

“I’m always down to Quest. Which game did you pick for me?”

“Well, if you remember, I told you it would be one of the ones starring the children.”

“Which leaves half of them. Six would be the obvious one because of the song.”

“Yep.”

“So, it is not six. Next obvious would be four because Rosella is the best.”

“Agreed.”

“So, it’s not four… wait… no!”

“That’s right, Carver, you’re gonna play King’s Quest III. To Heir is Human. That’s H-E-I-R heir.”

“Daniel, no!”

“Ooo… you never call me that. I think the lovelies would love to see you beat this game for once.”

“But… Mannannananaaananann is so hard.”

“Barry, please boot up the game.”

“Bear… I thought you loved me.”

“It’s for the kids.”

I sighed. “Fine. For the kids. But the way, how many challenges for the song?”

“Upwards of 200 at last count.”

“Don’t worry, lovelies,” Dan smirked, “the song will be done. But first Carver needs to make a cat cookie.”

“Just the cookie?”

“Let’s poll it out. Just cookie or full Manannan cat?”

“Already posted and it looks like full cat is winning by a landslide.”

“Thanks, lovelies,” I shook my head, “hope the song’s worth the wait cause this will be awhile.”

I very meticulously went through the beginning of the game, saving at every screen change. It started becoming a joke. ‘Walk 10 feet, save game, pick up rock, save game.’ I have to admit, it was very funny, but I didn’t have a chance to laugh. I was too committed to turning this fucking wizard into a cat. When I got the porridge back to my room I had a sudden thought.

“How do I get the porridge to him? I can’t carry anything on me, he’ll sense it.”

“Uhh…”

“Don’t ‘uhh…’ me Daniel! This is important. Check the walkthrough.”

“Carver is slowly turning into Arin right now.”

“No, Dan, I’ve always been Erin,” I grinned, “this game just brings out the rage.”

“The stealth pun burns me.”

“Most lovelies know my name is not actually Carver, but I choose to use it to stop confusion.”

“The guide says that once the cookie is in the porridge, Manannan will not detect the magic.”

“Good. Convenient. How much time before he gets back?”

“10 minutes. You’re golden.”

“Says you. I have dungeon stairs that are usually blocked by a cat to contend with.”

I resumed my pause and play routine for the next few minutes. I made it to the basement and successfully made a cookie. I ran up to my room and immediately crumbled it into the porridge. Not a minute later, Manannan returned and demanded food.

“What ever shall I feed him?”

“I don’t want to alarm you, but I think it’s song o’clock.”

I walked the character to the dining room.

“GIVE PORRIDGE TO MANANNAN.”

“You place the food on the dining table before the hungry wizard. Ravenously, he devours every bit of it,” Dan reads.

“Oh shit…” I start rocking in excitement.

“You fooled him! Manannan didn’t realize the porridge was tainted, and ate the whole bowl!”

“Yeah! Eat it, Manannanaanannanan.”

“And poof! Cat!”

I jumped up and screamed, “I FUCKING BEAT YOU, MANANNAN!!”

“Congratulations! Manannan will never again enslave you or the people of Llewdor!! At last, you are free!”

“And save the game!” I look around and see Ross, “Ross, you want to do the honors?”

“Sure…” he types some random letters.

“’finly cat kow sang,’ Thanks, man. Couldn’t have said it better myself. I guess we pause for song.”

Dan jumped up and assumed the singing position. I was still standing and full of pent of adrenaline from finally beating that part of the game. The song started and Dan just sang with everything he had. Come my turn, I tried to match his enthusiasm. I’m a singing with my eyes closed kind of singer, so a lot of times Dan went to reach out and we missed hands. However, at the very end I reached out and my hand was taken ever so gently. I opened my eyes and found Barry kneeling before me. I instinctively put my free hand to my mouth. It was in this moment when I realized that the entire grump crew was in the room.

“What’s going on?” I spoke through my fingers.

“Carver,” he began, “Erin, I’ve wanted to do this for awhile, but could not think of a good time. So, then Dan suggested during the stream and I knew that it would be perfect. So, would you make me the happiest person alive and marry me?”

“Of course!” I cried,” oh, my god, yes!”

He slid the ring on my finger and we kissed like there were no other people in the world. I couldn’t be happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this story.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been sitting on this for awhile now. It's complete, but I still think it needs a tweak here and there. Comments would be wonderful.


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